Rules/Instructions

During the course of the event, comprehensive guidance is provided via email, with updates usually sent weekly. Customer support is taken seriously.

A calculator (e.g., any of the TI line including the Nspire) is permitted in the middle school and high school events (NOT the elementary event), as well as pens, pencils, and empty scratch paper.

Math Madness is a web application (as opposed to a mobile application). Therefore, ALL participants, teachers and students, must log in to the AreteLabs website to access the event: www.aretelabs.com/login. Desktops and laptops are recommended although tablets and mobile phones continue to be successfully utilized. New teachers are strongly encouraged to test their computers/network, etc., prior to their first Math Madness match by creating an informal match of their own on the Create Match page (see details below).

If any trouble occurs in the application, refreshing the page can almost always solve the problem.

Students may conceal their identity on their profile page.

Only one coach can be assigned per team. Teachers are free, however, to share credentials where more than one coach is involved.

There are only 2 responsibilities of a teacher during Math Madness: add students to the team on the Manage Team page and choose the time to play each round, the Match Time, on the Schedule page. As to the former, a teacher may add a student with or without a student's email address. Adding a student with an email address is more convenient. For example, a student can reset a password without teacher involvement when the system has an email address to contact the student. As to the latter, the Match Time can be set to any day/time during the week. It can be changed during the week and from week to week. If a Match Time is missed (e.g., school emergency) and not a single student signs on during the 30 minute period, then the Match Time will automatically be reset by the system to 11PM Saturday, essentially the last possible moment to play the match during that round. A teacher can then change that Match Time to any day/time still remaining in the round. The Match Time remains fixed from round to round unless changed by the teacher, so there is no need to set each week if the team will be playing at the same time each week. For all new teachers, the Match Time is by default set to 11PM Saturday.

A teacher has the option to fill in his/her Time Availability on the left side of the Schedule page. These are time spans when the team can possibly play (Match Time is when the team will play). The more time spans that are added, the better the system will be able to match teams together that can play live. Teachers should always review the Time Availability of their opponent, presented on the right side of the Schedule page, to see if a time to play live is possible and reach out to the teacher if so. A teacher email address is displayed for such purposes.

A teacher has the option to upload a Mascot photo on the Manage Team page. This image will then appear in various areas of the application, including the Match Arena. For best appearance, use an image that is an exact square. Mascot images and names contribute positively to the experience so please consider performing this small task.

Except during the 2 collaboration rounds, STUDENTS MUST PLAY INDIVIDUALLY. During a match, only one browser with one tab directed to the AreteLabs website may be opened by the student. No other computer programs may be open or in use. An exception may be made where the student is an English Language Learner and needs assistance with translation.

Students are strongly encouraged to only use the most up to date version of their preferred browser. Chrome, Firefox, IE, and Safari are the browsers most often used.

While 30 minutes is allotted per match, students are encouraged to complete each match with 1-2 minutes remaining. For example, on rare occasions time on the clock in the Match Arena may slow down (a browser phenomenon) or there may be network issues (poor connection speed) affecting the proper presentation of time. Regardless of the time that might remain on the clock, the application server automatically terminates each session when the precise moment for the conclusion of the match arrives.

Students must compete together from a school location under coach supervision. Exceptions to this may be made upon request. No exceptions will be made during the Bracket Phase.

Students must log into their account at least once prior to their first match in order to play. This action allows the system to identify each student as an existing player. If a student has not activated his/her account until after a match has started, the student will NOT be able to play in the match but will be able to play in all future matches.

A countdown timer that marks the time remaining until the next match starts appears on the Schedule page at right/bottom. It can be used to double check that the Match Time set is correct.

When the time for the match arrives (Match Time), all logged-in students are automatically re-directed to the Match Arena where the questions are presented. There is no additional student or teacher action required. A late student may still participate, but allotted time will be diminished accordingly. Best Practice: Set your Match Time to a time 5-10 minutes later than when you want to play. Seat your students and make sure all are logged in. THEN set your Match Time to two or more minutes into the future (the system requires at least two minutes to process the request on the back end).

Students can be added to a team throughout the season. Any "Starting" student logged in during a match can play. However, a teacher may "Bench" a student on the Manage Team page if desired in which case the student will not be redirected to the Match Arena even if logged into the system. Note that a "Starting" student who does not answer a single question does not contribute to team score.

There are numerous question mark symbols throughout the application pages that can provide additional information when clicked.

In case of a tie, the team with the shorter average time to complete the match is judged the winner.

To enter an answer that includes a decimal for a fill-in-the-blank question, either of the following two forms is acceptable: "0.5", ".5". Normally, fill-in-the-blank questions will be composed such that only an answer in the form of an integer is required. No other answer forms for a fill-in-the-blank question will be required unless specified in the question stem.

If a round of Math Madness is missed by a team, it cannot be made up during a following round.

To qualify for the Title bracket, a team must play in both Qualifying rounds (weeks 3 and 4 of the official season).

Collaboration rounds (weeks 1 and 2) work as follows. Top 5 player scoring is used as is done throughout the event (the top 5 player scores are added together). The teacher should divide the team such that there are a minimum 5 mini-teams, if possible, at least 2 students per mini-team but no max. One student then logs in and answers on behalf of each mini-team. This can be from a "fake" student account that the teacher adds to the Roster if prefered - no charge for adding fake student accounts for such purposes. Where a team cannot be divided into 5 mini-teams with multiple members because the team is not large enough, then the teacher can divide as preferred but have all students log in. Here, the mini-team members would agree on the answer for a question and then all answer the exact same way simultaneously. The teacher must verify that they do so answer the same on the excel report (click date of match at left on the Results page and see excel icon at right). Collaboration round data do NOT factor into Team Rankings, Individual Rankings or bracket assignments.

A team can opt in/out of most rounds during Math Madness. A team that has has opted in for any given round is fully expected to play unless an emergency scenario exists, this due to the fact that its opponent team depends on it.

Once a team is eliminated from a bracket, it must sit out the following round before being included in the informal match-making the system performs for all similarly situated teams that opt in to play. This is because the system uses content from the previous bracket round to fuel such matches. Put another way, if the team were allowed to play the week following its loss in a bracket, it would see the exact same content as it did during the week of the loss, a scenario obviously to be avoided.

While an invoice is emailed to a teacher immediately upon registration, a copy of that invoice is available for download on the Events page, including an AreteLabs W-9 form if needed by the school's accountant.

A teacher may create a match on his/her own on the Create Match page, either by dividing the team into multiple teams that play against each other or by challenging another team to a match. Past and present Math Madness content is available to fuel such matches on Step 2 under "Question Sets".

It is the responsibility of the coach to review all scores that contribute to team score after each match to confirm the legitimacy of results. During the final two bracket rounds, students who contribute to team score must submit their work and teachers must verify that work and report back to the organizer at the email address below. Note that during one or more rounds during the Math Madness event, score will be hidden from all students, a method to ensure scoring integrity.

All participants are respectfully asked to refrain from uploading or sharing offensive material, be it lewd, graphic, profane, or otherwise.

The system creates all matches for the following round early Sunday morning. Therefore, if a teacher wishes to opt in/out of any given round, this action must be taken (on the Schedule page next to the calendar) by Saturday 10:00PM ET of the preceding round at the latest.

Please contact the organizer if you would like to take part in our customer referral program where revenues are shared. We are developing this program not only to grow Math Madness, but also to support a new initiative we will be launching, one where we arrange competition events for school districts and networks directly. A bonus/salary system is contemplated for all such assistance.

The AreteLabs team prides itself on offering a high amount of quality competition activity per dollar spent by a school. If you or someone you know would like to donate to Math Madness, either to help an under-resourced school finance the activity or simply to see the event grow, please contact the organizer below.

Feel free to email the organizer of the event, Timothy Kelley, at tkelley@maa.org or timothy@aretelabs.com. For more urgent issues, he can be reached by phone at 312-952-0436.